Responsible construction practices – Demolition within the scope of works

Created: 27/02/2019

/Reference:
KBCN1257

Demolition occurring under the same ownership should be included in the scope of the Man 03 issue because the site should be managed responsibly at all stages. The risks posed during demolition are as important as during construction. This is covered in the wording of criterion 3/4, the paragraph Scope of the responsible construction management issue in the methodology section, and the “construction process” refers to “enabling works” which would include demolition. The exception to this is the BREEAM AP (site) credit, as it is highly unlikely the BREEAM AP will be involved at this early stage.

It is acceptable, however, that in some cases it may not be appropriate to apply the requirements to the demolition phase. This may include instances where the demolition has been carried out as part of a significantly earlier site clearance occuring prior to RIBA stage 0 and no less than 12 months ahead of the requirement being set to carry out a BREEAM assessment, to demonstrably show that it was unrelated to the current re-development. Alternatively, exceptions may be considered where the demolition was expedited for health and safety reasons. Where the assessor believes this to be the case, full justification should be provided, along with robust evidence.

In cases of smaller contractors/projects, it would be acceptable if evidence was provided to demonstrate the intent of the criteria has been met for this stage of works as far as possible (proportionate to the scale and risks associated with the demolition). This would apply for the Monitoring of construction site impacts credit.

If the assessor believes that the aim of the assessment issue is fully met under these circumstances, they should send in a technical query, including all relevant details, for consideration before submitting for QA.